Chapter 5

Stage OneTalking at God

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

Prayer ‘Off the Rack”FIRST, one can use ready-made prayers because:• They’re great – written beautifully & express what

I’m feeling right now• They connect me with the eternal Church – I join

with all Christians who have prayed that prayer since the 12th century

• They connect me with the universal Church – Practically all Christians pray the Lord’s Prayer. Spiritually unite with world’s 2 billion Christians

• They connect me with me – interconnect my past with my present & future, ordinary with transcendent, reality with ideal

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

Ready-made prayers connect me to the __________ and __________ Church

A. American and International

B. Catholic and Ecumenical

C. Eternal and Universal

D. Local and National

American and In

ternational

Catholic

and Ecumenica

l

Eternal a

nd Unive

rsal

Loca

l and N

ational

01

9

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Fastest RespondersSeconds Participant Seconds Participant3.969 Blaschak, Alex5.443 McCowan, Taylor6.105 Stevens, Cassidy6.105 Bane, Anna6.487 20EFC46.765 Innacchione, Craig10.053 Hardy, Shawntel

Prayer ‘Off the Rack”SECOND, May not be able to pray in my own words because• I don’t know what to say – For whatever reason, I

can’t put into words my feelings or what I want to say to God.

• I’m distracted – I may find fantastic times to pray by can’t concentrate enough for deep prayer

• I’m emotionally distracted – I’m feeling strong emotions and have trouble settling down for prayer

• I’m tired – I’m too exhausted to pray deeply

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

Prayers I’ve said all my life

A. Always keep their meaning because I know the words by heart

B. May lose their meaning because I don’t listen to the words anymore

Alway

s keep th

eir mean

...

May l

ose th

eir meaning...

12

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Fastest RespondersSeconds Participant Seconds Participant3.923 Stevens, Cassidy7.235 20EFC47.236 Hardy, Shawntel8.002 Innacchione, Craig8.002 Gigous, Valerie

5 Ways to Pray Ready-made Prayers

1st Way: Reflecting on the Words

• Prayers we’ve said all our lives may lose their meaning. I don’t even listen to the words anymore.

• Simply paying attention to the words I’ve always recited by haven’t always prayed could renew my prayer life.

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

Ready-made prayers can express my own sincere desires and hopes

A. TrueB. False

True

False

4

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Team ScoresPoints Team Points Team2.67 Row 52.5 Row 12.5 Row 22.3 Male2.18 Female2 Row 41.67 Row 3

5 Ways to Pray Ready-made Prayers

2nd Way: When Soul Searching Isn’t Possible

• Sometimes I choose ready-made prayers because I can’t do the soul searching required in other types of prayer.

• I use words of ready-made prayer to express my sincere desires and hopes

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

5 Ways to Pray Ready-made Prayers

3rd Way: Linking Myself to the Past

• Allow the prayers to link myself with the past and/or others who’ve prayer this particular prayer through the years.

• This allows me to bridge across the rifts between – myself/my past– My Church /other Churches

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

5 Ways to Pray Ready-made Prayers

4th Way: Singing

• Not many people think of song as prayer• St. Augustine – to sing is to pray twice• Create collection of prayerful music– Instrumental– Nature sounds– Christian songs (simple/easy to learn) Armchair

Mystic

Chapter 5

Who said, “to sing is to pray twice”?

A. St. AugustineB. St. LeonardC. St. JosephD. St. Bernadette

St. Augusti

ne

St. Leonard

St. Jose

ph

St. Bern

adette

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Fastest RespondersSeconds Participant Seconds Participant1.194 Alioto, Mikaela1.195 Merkle, Paul1.698 Miller, Megan2.216 McCowan, Taylor2.525 Gigous, Valerie

5 Ways to Pray Ready-made Prayers

5th Way: The Mantra

• Use ready-made prayer as a word or phrase repeated slowly and reverently

• Allow to still my mind in order to center all of my attention

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

When using these prayers, I should “lean into being” …

A. Not at all as it is rote prayer

B. Only insofar as it feels natural to me

C. As intensely as I can to move to the next level

Not at a

ll as i

t is ro

te pray

er

Only inso

far as i

t feels

na...

As inte

nsely

as I ca

n to ...

12

11

Team MVPPoints Team Participant4 Row 4 Hardy, Shawntel4 Row 5 McCowan, Taylor4 Female McCowan, Taylor4 Male Stevens, Cassidy4 Row 1 Stevens, Cassidy3 Row 2 20EFC43 Row 3 Kearney, Morgan

Lean into Being

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

Remember• Every prayer is to be used as a vehicle to get me

to that place of quiet (not a prayer accomplish)• Constantly feel for opening into the solitude• No rigid procedure.• Lean into deeper levels, but only insofar

as it feels natural

Three Pitfalls to Avoid

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

1) Don’t allow prayers to become so mechanical that they no longer mean anything to me

2) Don’t fall into trap of thinking that there is some magic to these prayers

3) Beware of the Martha syndrome – keeping me (my accomplishments) rather than God at the center

Conclusion

ArmchairMystic

Chapter 5

Ritual action of ready-made prayers instills in me a sense of unity and continuity.

Unite my prayer to prayers and pray-ers of all time

Allow me to pray at times when other forms too demanding for my attention

Ready-made prayers instill a sense of

A. Unity and community

B. Universality and connectivity

C. Unity and continuity

Unity and co

mmunity

Universality

and connecti

...

Unity and co

ntinuity

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Team ScoresPoints Team Points Team